Coated textile fabric



I 5 ployed in the coating of such fabrics, usual- Patented Feb. 10, 1931 James J. onm'ronn, or. READING, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGINOR, BY sun ASSIGN- iunn'rs, 'ro srnanrasr RUBBER COMPANY, INC.., A CORPORATION or MASSACHU- SETTS COATED TEXTILE FABRIC Ho Drawing.

5 ing appearance for use in the manufacture of waterproof garments, footwear, auto top materialand for various other purposes Where appearance and durability are requisites.

One of the main features of the invention resides in the process and the resulting product by which and in which coloring pigment is durably united to a rubber compound ooating so as to produce the desired eifect.

More specifically the invention involves the securing of the desired effect by the applimutual aifinity for nitrocellulose and rubber.

suitable woven or unwoven These and other objects and features of the' invention will a pear more fully from the accompanying escription and will be particularly pointed out in the claims.

The base material employed ma be any fibrous abric but is desirably and preferably a woven fabric, such as sheeting, drill or napped fabric, usual- 1 employed in the manufacture of coated i abrics for garments, footwear, auto top material and various purposes.

The rubber compound employed may be of any suitable character such as is well known to those skilled in the art and emly either by the well known knife spreader or calender coating 0 erations.

After the textile fa ric has thus been coated with the suitable rubber compound, it is necessary to finish the coated face so as to render it non-adherent and thus prevent the surface .from becoming marked or injured durin the rolling and unrolling operations to w ich such fabrics are usually subjected in the course of manufacture or from adhering to embossing plates, rolls, dies and other appliances employed. While the surface may thus be rendered non-adherent in various ways, this result is preferably secured by giving the coated face what is known as a Application filed January 31, 1927. Serial No. 195,039.

varnish finish. The usual varnish employed to give such a finish and suitable for the present purposes, consists of shellac dissolved with an alkali solution. As is well known, such a varnish is made by dissolving borax and soap in boiling water and then dissolv-- ing the shellac in the alkali solution thus formed. The varnish is preferably applied While hot by a roller which picks up the varnish from a suitable vat and transfers it to the fabric. The varnish is then dried by a suitable means.

The process thus'far described is that employed in the art for the manufacture of glossy finished or varnish finished raincoat cloth and similar materials.

The design presented in the finishedfabric may be of any desired character and present any combination of colors including, when desired, the natural color of the ori inal coating. The pigment or pigments are t erefore employed over any required areas of the fabric and may give two tone or any desired color contrasting efiects.

The areas may be defined in-difierent ways according to the method employed of applying the color or colors.

In a preferred form of the process these areas are defined by depressions in the coated face. These depressions may be formed by an embossin operation or by other suitable means accor 'ng to the efiect desired. Preferably the coated surface is embossed with the aid of heat as by a usual and suitable form of embossing press, rolls, dies or other ap liance to give the required design.

K mixture 1s then prepared conslstmg of the required pigment or pigments, nitrocellulose and a solvent component having a mutual afiinity for rubber and for nitrocellulose.

- This mixture must not contain oil which would have a deleterious 'efiect on the rubber. Consequently the pigments, which may be of cat variety, must not themselves contain o5 ders such as gold, silver or bronze powder may be employed. Other pigments such as zinc oxide or various aniline colors may also be employed.

or be prepared with oil. Metal powi The ingredients of the solvent component of the mixture must include such as will thoroughly dissolve the nitrocellulose and such as will have the required affinity for the rubber compound coating and must not include oil. Common solvent components employed in nitrocellulose coating mixtures usually contain oil and some of these, with the oil omitted, may be suflicient for the purposes of this invention if they include an ingredient or ingredients having an afiinity for rubber; Those skilled in the art will have no difliculty in selecting or preparing a suitable solvent component for the mixture including ingredients which both or separately dissolve the nitrocellulose and have the desired action on the rubber. A solvent component comprising amyl aceta'te and/or its commercial substitutes and benzol or high test naphthas is well suited for this purpose. Such ingredients blend readily and render the solvent component one which has a mutual afiinity for nitrocellulose and rubber.

The mixture, when the design is the re- .sult of embossing or depression, is prepared the fabric. Preferably this application is performed by wiping the mixture into the depressions in the face of the fabric. This wiping operation. is best performed by the application of the mixture to the face of the fabric by an ordinary spreader such as employed with a pyroxylin or nitrocellulose coating, have a much thinner edge than usually employed in such cases.

But as pointed out, the design may be secured by other methods than em ossing. The mixture may be-sprayed upon or otherwise applied to the coated surface ofthe fabric to produce the desired effect. In such a case it may be desirable to pass the coated fabric through an embossing press equipped with smooth plates, or by other means to form a smooth, even face on the fabric. In such a case also, the required consistency of the mixture will be secured by varying the amount of the solvent component to the extent necessar i If the rubtier compound coated fabric has been vulcanized or semi-vulcanized before theapplication of the nitrocellulose and pigment mixture, it will be necessary to increase the degree of afinity for rubber of the solvent component employed and this, as is well known, may be done by using a larger pro ortion of rubber solvents such as benzol an the high test naplithas.

but the. spreading knife should The principle is that, according to the condition of the rubber compound coated face of the fabric, the consistency of the mixture and the degree of affinity of the solvent component employed for rubber must be such as to enable the design to be formed as required and the rubber to be attacked by the mixturesufliciently to form an intimate union between the nitrocellulose and the rubber and thus durably to secure the coloring pigment or pigments in place. The mixture thus constitutes a vehicle for the pigments which'has an aflinity for the rubber and durably unites the pigments to the face of the fabric.

If at the time the mixture is applied to the coated face of the fabric, the fabric is unvulcanized or semi-vulcanized, the entire fabric Wlll be vulcanized in the usual manner after the mixture has been applied and dried. The mixture employed is found to have an accelerating action in this vulcaniz ing process and thus the time required for,

vulcanization is materially shortened. The

vulcanization process employed is desirably 1 either what is known as the vapor cure. or .the dry heat cure The process results in the production of l a fabric of a novel and valuable character adaptable for a wide range of use. Any desired desi presenting practically any desied color e ect may thus be produced in a rubber compound coated fabric in which the coloring pigments are durably united to the fabric.

Having thus described the invention, what 1s clalmed as new, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is:.

1 The process of making coated fabric WlllCll consists in coating a fibrous fabric with a rubber compoundapplying a suitable varmsh to the coated face; drying the varnish; embossing with the aid of heat the coated and varnished face; wiping into the depresslons in the embossed face a non-oilcontaming past mixture of coloring pig- 'ment, nitrocellu ose and a solvent component having a mutual afiinity for nitrocellulose and rubber; and vulcanizing.

2 The process of making coated fabric which consists in coating a fibrous fabric with a rubber compound; treating the coated face to render it non-adherent; embossin with the aid of heat the coated and non-a herent face; wiping into the depressions in the embossed face a non-oil-containi'ng pasty mixture of coloring pigment, nitrocellulose and a solvent component having a mutual aflinity for nitrocellulose and rubber; and vulcanizing.

3 The process of making coated fabric which consists in coating a fibrous fabric with a rubber compound; treating the coated face to render it non-adherent; applying a non-oil-containing mixture of coloring pigme'nt, nitrocellulose and a solvent component having a mutual affinity for nitrocellulose and rubber to desired areas of the coated and non adherent face; and vulcanizing.

4.- The process of durably uniting coloring pigment to a rubber compound coated fibrous fabric which consists in applying a non-oilcontaining mixture of the pigment, nitrocellulose, and a solvent component containing amyl acetate and a blending ingredient having an affinity for rubber to desired areas of the coated face of the fabric.

5. The process of making coated fabric which consists in coating a fibrous fabric with a rubber compound; applying a suitable varnish to the coated face; drying the varnish; applying a non-oil-containing pasty mixture of coloring pigment, nitrocellulose and a solvent component having a mutual aflinity for nitrocellulose and rubber to the coated and varnished face; and vulcanizing.

6. The process of making coated fabric which consists in coating a fibrous fabric with a rubber compound; treating the coated face to render it non-adherent; applying a nonoil-containing past-y mixture of coloring pigment, nitrocellulose and a solvent component having a mutual affinity for nitrocellulose and rubber to the coated and non-adherent face;

and vulcanizing.

7. The process of durably uniting coloring pi ment to a rubber compound coated fibrous fa%ric which consists in applying a non-oilcontaining mixture of the pigment, nitrocellulose and a solvent component containing amyl acetate and a blending ingredient for rubber to the coated face of the fabric.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

JAMES J. CLIFFORD. 

